Dozing
by chocolafied
Summary: Sofia has something of value that Ezio wants back. And much to her surprise, his methods for getting what he wants aren't what she expects.


**Forgive me, but these two gave me a feels attack a few days ago and I wrote this shit. Sorry it sucks uwu;**

* * *

It was around eleven in the evening and Sofia had closed her shop a few hours ago and settled in at her desk, book at hand and a fresh cup of coffee at arm's length. The cool and pleasant summer air seeped through the cracks in the closed windows and lightly kissed the Venetian woman's exposed skin in her night gown. Content, the thirty five year old sighed pleasantly and closed the book in her hands and leaned back in her chair.

The closed window caught her eye for some unknown reason as the dim candlelight danced along the wall. Silence was something she had been used to for a long time. Sofia always preferred the solace of books compared to people. Ezio was probably one of the few people whose company she whole heartedly enjoyed ever since he swaggered into her bookshop and shamelessly flirted with her before striking up a partnership with her. She wanted to ask him so many questions, but he always dodged them with a practiced charisma and flattered her more, making her flustered and forgets the whole thing until after he left.

Her eyes quickly glanced at the crossbow in the open draw that he just _happened_ to leave behind the last time he dropped by unannounced. She tried it out, and turned out to be a better marksman than she thought. She kept the bolts on her person in case she needed to ward off any burglars that decided to break into her shop _again_.

There was a knocking sound coming from one of glass panes. Sofia's eyes scanned down the window and saw the master assassin pull down his hood with a smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth. The woman retracted her hand from the weapon and rolled her eyes. Closing the draw, she sighed before jumping up from her seat and walking over to undo the latch on the window. Ezio opened it and took the initiative of hauling himself through the open window. "Buonasera, Sofia." He grunted as he stood up and jogged a step or two away from the window.

Sofia feigned a glare and stared at him with a skeptical look. "Ezio," she raised an eyebrow as she closed the window. "A little late for you to be dropping by, is it not?"

His chuckle reminded her of rich and well-aged wine that she drank every now and then. She watched him raise an eyebrow at her and his smirk grew. "I had trouble sleeping and was hoping you would tell me a bedtime story."

Much to his amusement, she slapped him on the arm with the back of her hand as she walked past him and back to her desk to take another sip of her coffee. Ezio chuckled once more but followed her and sat in the other chair in front of her desk. She looked up at him and saw a patient and amused smile spread across his face as he folded his hands in his lap and leaned against the back of the chair while crossing his legs where his ankle rested against his knee.

Sofia narrowed her eyes at him and his smile grew, followed by a quizzical raise of his eyebrow. She finished sipping the caffeinated drink and set it back down onto her desk, composing herself for a moment before looking up at the assassin. "Would you like a cup?" she asked, gesturing to the coffee she just had in her hands with a nod of her head.

"I would appreciate that, grazie." Ezio held sincere kindness in his eyes as he looked up at her. He watched her smile before retreating into her kitchen to prepare him a cup of coffee. The silence once again caught his attention as he eyed the burning fire in the hearth at the other end of the room before Ezio let his eyes wander up and down the walls and various bookcases in the room. He could hear her stirring his drink, the spoon occasionally colliding with the rim of the cup in the distant room as the red head hummed a tune he once knew and was struggling to remember the name of.

And then he remembered the numbness in his eyes and how they formed into small slits on his face that were blinking open and shut rapidly. Ezio was _overtired_ to say the least. Limbs that felt like lead dragged the tired assassin to the chair he usually rested in while Sofia sat at her seat nearby her desk. Moving had become too much of a chore for the middle-aged man as he slumped into the wooden chair and his head tilted back to rest on top of the back. Besides visiting the store to be in Sofia's company, the silence helped him recharge after being out in the city for long periods of time hunting Templars, destroying towers, training recruits and most importantly, hunting for the Masyaf keys.

Ezio sighed heavily and closed his eyes. The hands that were tightly gripping the arms of the chair were slowly unwinding, body relaxing as he breathed in the quiet and still air with all of his worries slowly slipping away…

"…Hope this wakes you up!" Sofia's cheery voice woke Ezio up pleasantly. He hadn't realized he was drifting asleep until he opened his eyes that seemed spring open the second he heard her walk in. Sofia's footsteps were lighter now that she was out of the usual jade greed dress that she usually wore and was now cladded in a long cotton nightgown that flowed through the air slowly with her quick and accurate movements and a pair of slippers that muffled her footsteps on the carpet and wooden planks.

"Grazie, Sofia…" The older man drew the words out in a mumble with a mouth that seemed to want to remain silent. He gently took the cup from the younger woman and jumped in his seat to sit up straight. Ezio's heart jumped in his chest when his fingers brushed her warm ones, the calloused pads of his fingertips grazing the soft flesh of the Venetian woman's knuckles. He eyed her throughout the entire exchange with a renewed energy and an eagerness he had recently been re-experiencing ever since he met the book shop owner.

Ezio watched as she momentarily drew her lips into a thin line before smiling back at him with a hint of wear at the corners of her sparkling eyes. Sofia looked away first, hurrying back to her desk to take her own cup of coffee and sip it as she sighed and turned to face him. "It is cold in here." To emphasize her point, she shivered a bit where she stood as she took her first sip.

He sipped the caffeinated drink with expectant eyes and nodded, looking down at his feet while he stood. "Si," Ezio replied with a pleasant sigh, immediately feeling more awake. The warmth was pooling at the back of his throat and eased his vocal chords into flexing once more. The older man looked up at her with a warm smile and took another sip of his coffee. "It is a chilly night," he spoke after taking his last swig and finishing the coffee, placing the cup and saucer on the tray with practiced ease before standing up straight and giving the younger woman his full attention.

Sofia unconsciously scooted to the side and onto the top of her desk as Ezio approached, feeling the heat radiate off of him and swallowed lightly while her heart pulsed uncontrollably in her chest. She couldn't take her eyes off of him, however. His brown eyes seemed to glimmer with a fondness that had been becoming more apparent over the passing months that she had grown to know him. He told her little of his past and of his reason for being on Constantinople, evading her questions as if he knew _exactly_ what to say.

She was infuriated at how hard this man was to decipher, but equally intrigued by his subtle gestures he threw her way and his occasional stopping by when he found something that he knew would interest her. Sofia was if not well informed on his business _very_ well informed on the reputation he had with women. He was a rakehell, and in his fifties he _still_ was a rakehell. Ezio's smile seemed to grow the longer she stared at him curiously while casually sipping her coffee while sitting on her desk.

"What?" Sofia raised a pointed eyebrow at him as she set her cup down. She looked away for a second to put her coffee cup down and when she looked up she damn well had a near heart attack with the way her heart palpitated and pumped at a ridiculous rate. He was_ smirking_. Ezio had the _nerve_ to smirk at her after dropping by unexpectedly and nearly scaring her out of her own skin.

"I seemed to have…_misplaced_ my crossbow."

"Oh?" the gleam in her eyes suggested that she knew more than she was letting on.

"Si," Ezio began strolling around the shop, eyeing the ceiling, the walls, Sofia, the windows, Sofia again… He paused, and then looked at her with a knowing look. "You wouldn't," he began approaching her, his hands making confused gestures to her person. "_know_ anything about that now, would you?" The assassin punctuated the question with a raised eyebrow and Sofia tried her hardest to hide her grin behind her coffee cup.

After a pause, she regained her composure and shook her head as seriously as she possibly could, which was less than she thought she was acting.

"No?" Ezio's voice dropped as he feigned surprise and disappointment all with one look. He settled his weight comfortably against the sturdy desk that she always sat _at_, instead of on top of and looked up at her with endearment that barely concealed the mischief he was currently conceiving of in his head.

"No." Sofia appeared more composed this time as she shook her head and set the coffee cup down onto the tray and pushed it away from her.

His chuckle came as a low rumbling that reverberated through the empty air and made the color rush to her cheeks. Sofia clutched the edge of the desk tighter and was tempted to look away like some shy, nervous teenager that was caught looking at her crush.

But she _wouldn't_. Her pride wouldn't let her back down and he seemed to only welcome the challenge as she held his gaze with those nervous emerald eyes of hers that he was almost losing himself in yet again.

The older man took slow and deliberate movements as he pushed himself off the desk with a long but endearing sigh. "Signora Sartor," he addressed her as he nonchalantly took the few steps that closed the gap between them and loomed over her." I think…" His breath at the shell of her ear made her shiver for an entirely different reason from before. "You are hiding something from me." Her blood boiled when she practically heard the smirk on his face.

He leaned back to look at her, a knowing look in his eye paired with the growing grin on his face did _not_ help her resistance. She could smell the coffee in his breath as she fidgeted and swallowed once more .Sofia shook her head vigorously, her turn to smile now. "I have no idea what you are talking about, Messere!"

Ezio raised both of his eyebrows at her. "Really?" his voice became lower in tone, but slightly louder in volume. He watched her as she hummed in answer, now looking down at her nightgown and fiddling with the material through her fingers. He leaned back and crossed his arms, shifting his lips to the side and looking away towards the fireplace.

Oh, she was good. _Real_ good at this. Normally back in his day women buckled under such close contact with him, even Cristina a few times. But Sofia wasn't. She was too stubborn to back down. And the way she looked at him tugged at him, made him want to hold her. The assassin's grip on his arms tightened at the thought of him holding her when she looked up at him again.

And then his smirk returned, growing smugger than ever and a spark flew from his eyes. She shifted her scrutiny from Ezio's eyes to his hands to see the buckles that strapped his bracers to his arms coming undone. The first one fell to the floor, and then the other one. His sword fell next, followed by his throwing knives. "What are you doing?" she asked warily, now truly nervous for her own wellbeing.

"We have all night Sofia, and I intend on finding out what you are hiding from me." He set the smoke bombs by the tray, and then his dagger, and then shifted his attention back towards her.

Sofia smiled sheepishly and then eyed the trinkets and weapons as he set them to the side. "You're not going to torture me for the information? You have the means!"

Ezio paused and slowly turned his head up to look up at the woman. His smirk crawled back onto his face as he shook his head and chuckled to himself. "Violence is not always the answer_, Sofia_." He purred her name with a now gruff and low voice as he closed in on her once more, placing his hands on the desk, entrapping her with his frame. She leaned back as he leaned forward. Her heart was frantically beating in her chest and her breath becoming ragged as the blood rushed to her cheeks. "I have _other_ ways of persuading people to get what I want."

Sofia couldn't help but think that if "other ways" were what she thought they were, she wouldn't mind so much. His face was inches from hers and their eyes were locked as their breaths merged. Her body was tingling all over, particularly where Ezio rested between her legs as he stood in front of her. She pursed her lips and then opened her mouth to release a shaky breath, about to say something –

He grabbed her hands and pinned her down to the desk. She screamed with surprise before she had a chance to protest and began laughing uncontrollably as his hands assaulted her sides through the fabric of her nightgown. The Venetian woman arched her back and squirmed constantly as the older man continued tickling her. "E—Ezio! Stop i—it!" she looked up briefly to see him smiling widely, grinning almost as he continued torturing her. His hands poked and prodded at her sides and slid to her thighs. "Dio Mio! Alright Ezio! A—Alright! I'll tell you! Ju—ust _STOP!_"

Ezio still held her in place on the desk as he retracted his other hand and moved it to push against Sofia's desk. "Well?" He smirked at her huff of annoyance and the roll of her eyes. Sofia still squirmed lightly, to which he raised a finger and chided her as he would a child. "Ah, ah! Not so fast."

"Ezio," she deadpanned.

He grinned and leaned in closer, his breath tickling her lips. The temptation to kiss her was almost too good to resist. _Almost_. Ezio wanted his crossbow back and not have guards chase him all over the place. _Then_ he could kiss her.

But not before.

"Where is my crossbow?" there was an ever so slight trace of a threat in his question as he breathed it, just for her to hear. Ezio continued to stare at her eyes that he could tell were having a hard time holding his stare.

Sofia merely smiled up at him and nodded her head to the draw in back of them that was a tad open. His eyes followed her gaze, and then he looked down at her with a satisfied smirk before reaching in and grabbing it. He looked up at it, seeing that it was still in the condition he left it. Ezio looked down at her and smiled approvingly while waving the weapon in the air. "Grazie," he said. Sofia followed his free hand as he placed the crossbow to the side. He stared at her for a moment, almost seeming to contemplate something, and then slipped his free hand under her nightgown.

"But I'm still missing my bolts." He smirked at the shock that suddenly overtook her as his cold fingers traced up her thighs with a feather touch. Sofia shivered and tried to move out of his reach again with futile attempts. The assassin found the stash of bolts tied to her upper thigh and slowly, oh so _slowly_ undid the seams that held the pouch around her leg and brought it up for her to see.

She looked from the pouch to the face of the man holding it and seeing the amused look that he wore shamelessly. "Now, that wasn't so hard, now was it?"

"Ezio," she deadpanned.

"Hm?"

"You are an _impossible _man."

He grinned at the statement while leaning back and putting the pouch to the side before releasing her wrists and pulling her up gently. The younger woman watched with a flush on his face as he tenderly grasped one of her hands and brought it to his lips. His beard tickled her bare knuckles and his warm breath made her feel tingly. "I aim to please."

She yawned tiredly, covering her mouth with her other hand and then looked outside to see that it was still dark out. Ezio yawned loudly after her and dragged his hands down his face to wake himself up some more.

Sofia stared at him as he rubbed his eyes and smiled tenderly. "Would you like that bedtime story now?" The Venetian woman watched as he stopped for a moment before turning somewhat to face her with rapidly blinking eyes. He formed a sleepy smile before nodding lightly.

"Si, I think we both can use one."


End file.
